The Best Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

I created the best gluten-free pizza crust when years ago, my husband had to be gluten-free. Gluten had landed him in the ER which major abdominal issues.

During the years he was gluten free he really missed having a yummy slice of pizza, especially the crust. Come to find out, he was not the only one. When I asked my gluten-free readers what food they missed most; pizza was – without fail – at the top of the list.

We – Americans – may call pizza “Italian” but make no mistake, pizza is an American staple food through and through. I have eaten more pizza in the States than I ever did in Europe.

Incidentally, when I went back home two years ago, I was shocked upon discovering my town (of 80,000 people) was now the proud owner of a Domino’s pizza!

Once I discovered hubby missed pizza, I endeavored to create the best gluten-free pizza crust so that my love could, once again, fully enjoy this comfort food.

Being Gluten Free

Let’s be honest, switching to a gluten-free lifestyle is not that big of a deal until you want to sink your teeth into real bread (French baguette anyone?), traditional tortillas or chapatis, or pizza crust. Anything food item made with yeast taste better when made with flour.

Yeast combined with gluten makes the perfect marriage and helps bread products to be airy, chewy, and light. A feat not easily achieved sans-gluten. Most of the time, gluten-free yeast products end up quite dense and anything but chewy and light.

Seriously, just go to any grocery store which carries gluten-free breads, and hold one loaf in your hand while at the same time hold a regular loaf of bread in the other hand. Most of the time, you’ll be able to use the gluten-free bread as a dumbbell. In my experience, for whatever reason. homemade gluten-free bread is even more prone to being dense.

The Pizza Crust Experiment

In my kitchen, I tried various gluten-free pizza crust recipes and none of them “did” it. Hubs wasn’t happy with any of them. While a tad disheartened by my repeated failures, I was undeterred.

We occasionally frequented a restaurant (which has since closed its doors) which offered gluten-free pizzas on their menu. We both really liked their pizza crust…a lot!

While nothing can ever really replace the “feel” of gluten – nor the taste – this pizza crust was actually amazing. It was flavorful, chewy, and light.

I was on a mission to copycat this pizza crust recipe as well as I could and I think I came very, very, close. The good news is that my hubby likes my pizza crust and now gets to enjoy homemade pizza once again.

Tips and Notes

I use an organic raw sugar in my crust, you CAN substitute with any granulated sweetener of your choice.

I make my own gluten-free mix for this recipe, and the recipe is as follows:

You can try to use a pre-made gluten-free mix. However, I can’t guarantee the results since I have never tried this recipe with a store-bought mix.

The Best Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

Place the yeast in a large bowl – or even better, use a stand mixer as I do, it makes the process a LOT easier – add the warm water (no hotter than 110 degrees Fahrenheit) and a little bit of the sugar, Set aside and wait until this mixture becomes foamy and bubbly. This step is called “proofing the yeast” and is a very important step. It should only take about 5 minutes.

If this mixture does not foam then this means your yeast is bad and not active. Start this process with new yeast.

Add the remaining ingredients: the remaining sugar, either my gluten-free flour mix or one of your choice, salt, extra virgin olive oil, and the large egg.

Mix thoroughly and vigorously for a few minutes. This step is very important.

If using a stand mixer use the regular attachment, not the dough hook. I think you could use a powerful hand mixer as well. I don’t believe this recipe will work well if you try to mix by hand.

Coat another large bowl with olive oil.

Drop your dough into your prepared bowl.

Cover the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap and let the dough rise for at least one hour undisturbed in a warm place.

Punch and roll the pizza dough between two pieces of parchment paper or even better two lightly floured (tapioca starch works well) Silpat mat.

Place the dough onto a greased (or a Silpat mat covered) cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.

Take out of the oven.

Spread the sauce and add the toppings of your choice.

Put the cookie sheet back in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until done.

3 cups of my gluten-free mix (recipe in the notes below) or your own mix

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 large egg - slightly beaten

1 1/2 cups warm water ~ about 110 degrees Fahrenheit

Instructions

Place the yeast in a large bowl – or even better, use a stand mixer as I do, it makes the process a LOT easier – add the warm water (no hotter than 110 degrees Fahrenheit) and a little bit of the sugar, Set aside and wait until this mixture becomes foamy and bubbly. This step is called "proofing the yeast" and is very important. It should only take about 5 minutes.

If this mixture does not foam then this means your yeast is bad and not active. Start this process with new yeast.

Add the remaining ingredients: the remaining sugar, either my gluten-free flour mix or one of your choice, salt, extra virgin olive oil, and the large egg.

Mix thoroughly and vigorously for a few minutes. This step is very important.

If using a stand mixer use the regular attachment, not the dough hook. I think you could use a powerful hand mixer as well. I don't believe this recipe will work well if you try to mix by hand.

Coat another large bowl with olive oil.

Drop your dough into your prepared bowl.

Cover the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap and let the dough rise for at least one hour undisturbed in a warm place.

Punch and roll the pizza dough between two pieces of parchment paper or even better two lightly floured (tapioca starch works well) Silpat mat.

Place the dough onto a greased (or a Silpat mat covered) cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.

Take out of the oven.

Spread the sauce and add the toppings of your choice.

Put the cookie sheet back in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until done.